JSI Tip 2978. Windows 2000 Terminal Services has ended the connection?

When you try to connect to Windows 2000 Terminal Services, you receive:

Terminal Server has ended the connection.

The Terminal Services Application event log may contain:

Event ID 1004Source: TermServiceDescription: Unable to acquire a license for user , domain 

This is generally not a licensing issue and is normally the result of connectivity problems. To verify connectivity, ping the client from the Terminal Services computer and the Terminal Services computer from the client, using the IP address. Ping by name also. If a ping fails, check your settings on both computers, including the default gateways. You can try pinging with decreasingly smaller packets, with the don't fragment bit set, starting with:

ping -l 1472 -f

If a smaller size works, see 1528 - Your router silently drops unfragmented packets greater than MTU size, and Knowledge Base articles:

Q120642 - TCP/IP and NBT Configuration Parameters for Windows NT.

Q183229 - RAS Uses Fixed TCP/IP MTU Size.

If it is NOT a connectivity issue, see:

Q237811 - Activating a Terminal Services License Services Over the Internet.

Q239107 - Establishing Preferred Terminal Services License Services.

Q237801 - Windows 2000 Terminal Services Requires Licensing Service.

Q244749 - Licenses Required When Using Terminal Services Client Software.